City's buzzing food and drink scene serves up hundreds of jobs

A flurry of new bar and restaurant openings are set to provide a major jobs boost to Sunderland over the coming months.

Dozens of hospitality and supply chain roles have already been created this year courtesy of new arrivals such as The Botanist, Manjaros and Sea Glass Café.

Yet there is still a lot more to come, with more new openings over the coming weeks and months set to see the number of jobs created exceed 250.

One of the major contributors to this is the £4million Sheepfolds Stables development at Riverside Sunderland, which has been designed and developed by Sunderland-headquartered architects, Building Design Northern (BDN) Ltd.

Housing several independent bars and restaurants including Ember, Mother Mercy, The Calabash Tree, I Scream for Pizza, Spey Snug, Deep North and Vito's Osteria, the hotly anticipated venue will officially open its doors to the public on Friday, August 2.

And according to general manager of operations, Nigel Wood, the leisure complex - housed in a sympathetically restored former railway stables - will serve up over 100 jobs and even more throughout the supply chain.

He said: "It's been a couple of years in the making; however we are all incredibly excited to finally throw open our doors to the public next month.

"All of our vendors are already recruiting and training their teams and at the last count, we estimated that it would create around 100 jobs.

"But that doesn't even factor in the supply chain, such as cleaners, jobs at suppliers and security etc, which will see that number rise furthermore as we finally get up and running."

Another significant job creator will be RIO Steakhouse, which is set to open its doors in the former Bud Biggalow's site on Low Row in October, creating around 45 jobs.

Rodrigo Grassi-Duarte, co-founder and co-director, said: "We are looking forward to finally opening our Sunderland venue later this year.

"We will be starting the recruitment process over the coming weeks as we look to hire vital team members ahead of the restaurant opening.

"We work hard to train and look after our staff, maintaining the high standards of customer service the RIO brand is renowned for.

"Creating around 45 jobs, we are hopeful it will provide a huge boost to local people and we can't wait to get started." 

Other upcoming openings include The 3 Stories, Flower Café, The Muddler, Pablo Eggsgobao, The Sofia and The Hideout Bar.

Combined, city chiefs are estimating that the new venues will create over 250 jobs and provide a major economic boost to the city centre.

Cllr Kevin Johnston, Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Business at Sunderland City Council, said: "It's fantastic to see so many new bars and restaurants opening and creating jobs for local people.

"Much has been made of the UK's hospitality sector and the many challenges facing it recently, however Sunderland is really bucking industry and national trends.

"We've had several new venues open this year and The Botanist alone attracted over 30,000 visitors in its first two months.

"Add to that the numerous new venues set to open over the coming months and the wider transformation of the city, including Riverside Sunderland and the future certainly looks bright for the sector in the city."

To find out more about the commercial properties currently available within Sunderland, including public and private sector owned properties, visit: https://www.mysunderland.co.uk/commercial-properties

Alternatively, the Business Investment Team can be contacted via business@sunderland.gov.uk